SCARBOROUGH, ME – Sean Flaherty, candidate for the Maine House of Representatives in Scarborough, has scheduled a public hearing for Tuesday May 13th on the topic of Hannaford and the loss of shoppers’ sensitive financial information. The doors will open at 6:00pm for refreshments and the program will start at 6:30pm.

Flaherty, a 2003 graduate of Scarborough High School and ‘07 graduate of the George Washington University, says he has heard many comments and questions on the Hannaford issue as he has campaigned in Scarborough. Recently, a controversy arose when Hannaford announced that someone had infiltrated Hannaford’s computerized databases, resulting in thousands of shoppers having their financial information stolen.

“People understandably are upset, scared, and angry. More importantly, they want to understand what happened, and want to know it won’t happen again,” Flaherty said. “Hannaford is an important part of this town, and has been for more than two decades. I have been a customer, along with my family, for more than 20 years. This could be a good opportunity to get people with questions together in one room with people who may have answers and helpful information.”

Flaherty said he is putting together a panel of individuals to attend the forum he will host. He said the panel will include some consumers, a technology expert, a business representative and hopefully a representative from Hannaford.

“One reason I decided to run for the Legislature is because I wanted to see the state utilize modern technology to help our state economy in the 2lst century. The internet, e mail, and web sites are just a few examples of technology helping our business provide jobs in ways we would not have imagined years ago. I was concerned when I learned about this issue,” Flaherty said, “Hannaford has been a great company, I have friends and family who have worked for Hannaford, and I’ve shopped there with my own credit card for years.”

The issue, Flaherty said, boils down to making sure that the issue doesn’t affect the local economy and jobs in a negative way. “I don’t want to see this issue result in any lost business for Hannaford, or Shaw’s, or any local establishments. Most importantly, I’d hate to see people become discouraged or scared about technology and I certainly do not want to see us go backward as a state.” Flaherty added, “Technology is a tool which will help Maine compete in the global economy and help move us forward. My hope is that if we can give concerned consumers some answers, they will continue to support our state’s efforts to become more technologically savvy.”

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